Physical Sciences

The objective of the Physics Division is to develop and exploit the physics knowledge base for new Army needs and capabilities. The future promises dramatic changes in military capability as a result of physics research. Possibilities include enormous improvements in materials, sensors, and devices, as well as the creation of novel functional materials through application of quantum level design and understanding; exploitation of single atom, single ion, and single photon processes for sensing, communication, and quantum information processing; design and external control of strong correlations in electronic materials for sensing and advanced electronics capabilities; advances in optics (such as slow light and negative index meta-materials) enabling better automatic target recognition, stealth, and simply imaging better (e.g., sub-wavelength); the ability, resulting from submillimeter and far-infrared physics, to operate on the visually obscured battlefield; Soldier and equipment protection via nonlinear optics; and quantum computing for the solutions of difficult logistics and other problems.